The 42nd edition of the Morin-Heights Viking Loppet was saved at last !

Sunday February 23rd, the Municipality of Morin-Heights with the Viking Ski Club welcomed 480 participants to their annual jointly organized event. Last year’s record was not surpassed but can be explained by the removal of the 5 km snowshoe race and the amount of freezing rain two days prior. Conditions were very fast with frozen granular snow, but racer did not complain!

Part of the Tour de ski des Laurentides, this great event attracts not only competitive skiers, but also families who enjoy the great outdoors. A solid team of proud volunteers (134) was ready at dawn to greet, direct, feed and encourage skiers all along, making this well run event memorable. The warm atmosphere created by the dedicated group greatly contributes to the reputation of the Morin-Heights Viking Loppet.

After the races, a warm meal was served to participants and then ensued the medal presentation where compiled results provided by the Sportstats team were announced.

After the skiers had gone, a volunteer party to thank everyone for giving their time took place at Resto-bar La Grange for everyone to enjoy, where many volunteers won a door prize generously donated by local sponsors.

The Desjardins trophy title, awarded to the fastest male and female athletes 15 years and under to have raced the 10 km, was given to Florent Banos (11) from Val-David for the boys and to Marie-Lou Ouimet (12) of Mont-Tremblant for the girls. Thomas Félix (31) from Montreal will see his name engraved on the Munk trophy awarded to the fastest male to complete the 33 km race (1h46m38s) overall. The fastest female in the 33 km (1h57m47s), Myriam Paquette (23) from St-Bruno will see her name engraved on the Berg et Dohrendorf trophy.

Two new trophies were introduced this year to immortalize the names of the the fastest 20km racers. The fastest male to complete the 20 km (1h14m45s) was Quentin Stoyel (18) from Laval will be the first in histoty sto see his name engraved on the Jack Steele trophy. For the ladies, Julie Sicotte (33) from Bromont will be the first female ever to win the George Basler trophy with a time of 1h35m07s. These two gentlemen honored here, Mr. Steele & Mr. Basler have played an essential role in the creation and the preservation of the integrity of the Morin-Heights’ cross-country trail network.

Highlights include the presence of Victor Emery (80), past olympic medallist, and oldest skier this year to race the 33 km who last sunday won bronze in his category. Next year we will most likely be creating an 80+ category for athletes the like of Mr. Emery. The youngest skiers to participate in the Loppet this year were three 5 year olds who raced like pros the 10 km!

The youngest skier to complete the 20 km is Calvin Walsh (9) from Morin-Heights. Also, 2nd place in his category in the 20 km race was Mikelli McKenna-L’abbé (11) also from Morin-Heights. Let us also congratulate the Galarneau familyfrom Saint-Sauveur, the four of them who a medal !